Of Engagements, Employments, and Endangerments
by Artemis Hunt
Summary: FOURTH IN OF ALLITERATIONS SERIES. Life should be perfect for blissful people like Lily and James, but their aspiration to help the Magical community through becoming an Auror soon puts them in a dangerous situation. Sorry bad description, please read!


**Thank-you so much to all the wonderful reviewers for Of Alliterations D. Ron Lover6789, Truth in the Moon, Lexie-H, Scatteredparchment, believeinmagic14, Cocokabana, emuroo, bio buddy dude, HermioneGrangerTwin, cMEk, Queen of Duct Tape, and CaramelBoost are all wonderful people who made my day!**

**Sorry I took a while before starting this next part of the Of Alliteration series! I was busy with my other story Out Of The Darkness… which you all should go read! Hahaha sorry but I had to throw in the shameless self-advertising.**

**Also I realized that I forgot disclaimers in my other chapters so I'm putting it in now for all of those chapters.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this…I wish I did, but the shooting star seems to be broken right now.**

**CAUTION! DO NOT READ UNTIL HAVE READ A/N BELOW!!!!**

**PLEASE NOTE: This is the FOURTH in the Of Alliterations series…if you have not read Of Snow, Snowshoeing, and Snogging, its sequel Of Tests, Tricks, and Turning Points, and the third Of Dates, Drama, and Dilemmas… then DO NOT READ THIS (yet)!! Thank-you and enjoy!**

**Of Engagements, Employments, and Endangerments**

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" Hurry up Evans!" Barked a voice from somewhere in the darkness.

Lily sighed, trying to pull in her senses and figure everything out.

_Think, think… _Lily thought furiously. _What haven't I tried? This darkness just won't go away!_

" Maybe it isn't supposed to…" She muttered, closing her eyes to rely on the other senses.

Slowly, she began to hear a tapping noise to her right, and the soft whoosh of a nearby water source to her left…_water sloshing against a nearby wall_.

Quickly she strode to the left and felt along the cold brick wall.

_Brick means there can be spells imprinted into the wall…but they can't be hidden if I call out their magic! _Lily thought excitedly. _And I can use that for light!_

"_Mostrisi conluce!" _Lily called, pointing her wand at the brick in front of her. Immediately, Lily could see the various charms that had prevented her from bringing light into the dungeon area, now she just had to find a way out.

Lily looked around the circular tower, but there were no cracks in the walls, and no windows or doors. The only way in or out was to Apparate and there were wards against that as well she could see on the wall.

"Merlin!" Lily cursed refusing to give up and satisfy the obnoxious voice from above.

Closing her eyes again in hopes that she would get another idea, Lily noticed that the water around her feet was rising, not much since she had been here, but enough that she could notice that it was flowing.

_But it shouldn't be flowing or rising if there is no way out…_Lily frowned, opening her eyes.

The water was indeed moving, but Lily couldn't see where.

Quickly she scrapped some brick fragments off of the nearest piece of wall, and charmed them to turn golden in color and sparkle.

Lily sloshed her way back to the middle of the chamber and dropped her lighted pebbles into the murky water with a splash.

_And they are heading to…? _Lily thought with a game host voice.

Peering into the water, Lily watched the beads of light follow the current to a spot near the edge of the tower and then disappear from view.

" They didn't run out of light or color…so that must be a way out!" She whispered excitedly, rushing over to the last place she had seen the fragments.

Dropping herself into the sewer water, Lily felt around the floor of the room and the connecting wall. But she felt was solid brick.

_But that doesn't mean there is actually brick here. _Lily thought with a smirk.

Quickly, Lily placed her wand against the wall and began muttering every revealing charm she could remember, not sure which ones the wards on the wall prevented.

After a minute, Lily was out of charms and slammed her palm against the wall in frustration.

" Well this is lovely." She muttered sarcastically and jokingly called out a spell that would force all transfigured objects to change back, assuming they weren't under a particularly strong spell.

_After all…there's no bloody way they would just transfigure it, that would be too easy to…_

" Well he does love to use the easy idea that no one tries." Lily murmured, examining the grate that had appeared.

It seemed to have no other protections on it so Lily use a quick heating spell, making the rusting iron as hot as a forge before leaning back on her hands and kicking out as hard as her Auror training had given her the muscles to do, and launched the metal bars into the wall across the room.

Immediately, Lily crawled out of her mock jail and called, " TIME!"

" 15 minutes and 12 seconds Evans!" A man in black robes called out from across the room.

" Much longer and I think the Death Eaters would have gone out for lunch!"

" Sir, yes sir." Lily said through gritted teeth. She knew it would have taken any of the others just as long.

" Go change…its time for lessons!" The man barked out, still giving Lily a distasteful look as she sloshed across the room in her now soaked training uniform.

Trying hard to keep her thoughts clean, and away from murdering their bloody instructor _Professor Rugel, _the slimy git.

Once they were thirty feet down the hall, Lily felt an arm being slung around her shoulder.

" Aww Lil don't let him get to you!" Sirius said, failing miserably at his attempts to cheer her up.

" Sod off Black." She muttered, shrugging his arm off only to have another one placed on her other side.

" Aww Lils…the only reason he picks on you is cause you're hot and he's too disgusting to get a girl!" Dacia Samad said cheerfully, her eyes twinkling as she tried to make her friend laugh.

Lily shuttered, " Thanks Dac…now I have the image of him shagging someone." The group shuttered openly.

" How about you remember us shagging last night instead?" A sultry voice asked, taking over the position of arms around Lily.

" James Potter! That is inappropriate for work!" Lily exclaimed, blushing as she stopped to look at her friends.

Sirius, Remus, James, Frank, and Alice had all been placed into the elite training group for the Auror training academy with her. Lily still had the vivid and very fond memory of their first day when they met her and Rugel had informed them they were to find sparing partners and fight so that he could observe what " pathetic excuses for students those idiots at division sent me this year."

" _Remus…look at that one!!" Sirius whispered energetically, pulling at Remus' shirt._

" _Women are not objects." Remus intoned wearily, tugging his sleeve away from the still hormonal teenager and moving to spar with Frank Longbottom._

" _Shall we?" Lily inquired of her boyfriend who smiled and momentarily gave her a heart attack. She loved that smile far too much._

" _Promise you won't be mad when I beat you…" James teased, stretching his arms out in front of him._

_Before either of them had stepped onto the mat they heard, " YOU PIG!" and knew that Sirius had made the stupid decision to approach the Arabian girl he had been lusting after._

_Lily and James exchanged a look while they watched Sirius shrink further into the mat as his dream girl switched to Arabic because she was so angry and couldn't find enough insults in English._

" _Enough." The instructor yelled, " You have a problem? Fight it out."_

_All of the students quickly moved towards the mat containing the fireball of anger and the puddle of Sirius._

" _Ready loser?" The mystery girl asked, raising her hands. Sirius prepared himself, but he looked unsure about hitting a girl._

_Sirius changed his mind as soon as he was thrown to ground with a furiously fast roundhouse kick._

" _Ooof." He grunted, scrambling off of the floor and circling with his opponent._

_As much as Lily wanted the girl to win, she had to admit that Sirius was a good fighter as he had beaten her once out of their many practice matches. Lily wasn't the strongest, but she knew tricks to use people's strength to her advantage._

" _She fights like you." James muttered distractedly to Lily. Remus, Frank, and Alice all nodded to Lily's proud embarrassment. After all, this girl was good._

" _But Sirius' angry." Remus noted, " He fights better when he's angry._

_To prove Remus' point the Arabian girl was spun around by a well-placed hook from Sirius._

_She tripped for a moment and stuck out an arm for balance. Lily, James, and Remus all cringed. Sirius' specialty was throwing you over his shoulder by your arm._

_Smiling Sirius darted forward and grabbed the girl's arm, expecting a quick win._

_But as she was halfway into the air, her other arm snapped out hitting Sirius' swinging arm at the elbow and then throwing her arm back into his chest._

_Faltering, Sirius let go and doubled over, gasping for breath while the girl landed behind him on her feet, as poised and lithe as a cat._

_As he spun around trying to catch his breath while fighting, the girl jumped up and pounded Sirius in the chest again, knocking his breath away and kicking him to the ground._

_She finished him with a punch to his stomach that knocked him over onto his chest._

_Moving quickly she reached out and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind him painfully._

" _Repeat after me…'Women are __not__ objects'." She demanded, using her free hand to pinch his bicep with her nails._

" _Wom-en are…not ob-jects." Sirius chocked out and he was finally released._

_Remus looked at Lily and shrugged, " Maybe he'll remember it now." Lily laughed and walked towards the victor._

" _Lily Evans." She said, sticking out her hand, " How about fighting me next? I liked that move with the flip and then hurting his arm…people forget it hurts like hell there."_

_The exotic girl smiled broadly with pearl white teeth, " Dacia Samad. People do forget…but I like to fight old school"_

Lily shook her head, hearing Sirius and Dacia arguing yet again.

" Why the bloody hell can't we report him?" Sirius argued, waving his hands energetically about, " He is obviously set against Lily!"

" True but he has been training longer then you've been alive and is a great teacher…we just have to put up with his crap!" Dacia argued, poking Sirius in the chest, " You're just angry that he said you looked like a dead rat coming off of your desert fight simulation!"

Alice quickly interjected before Sirius could respond, " Either way the only person who has the right to report him or be angry about his actions is Lily and I don't see her whining do you?"

The pair shook their heads sullenly before separating into the gender segregated shower rooms.

Remus shook his head and walked after Sirius, cuffing him over the head to the indignant cry of, " Wot the bloody f…" as Sirius was cut off by the sound proof entrance.

Alice and Frank shared a brief peck before following their friends into the various locker rooms.

Lily sighed, comforted in the silence and leaned against her boyfriend of seven months.

" Seriously Lily… if this guy gets to be too much I'll deal with him." James said, half playful, but half serious.

Turning around with her arms over his shoulders Lily lost herself into the chocolate vats of his eyes.

" I can deal with him… don't worry about me." She said, twirling his hair in her fingers, " You need a haircut." She said absently.

James replied with a cocky grin, " But see if you hate him I have a reason to kill him….other then he's just a wanker." Kissing her forehead he added, " And I'm getting a haircut before dinner tonight."

" Oh! I almost forgot about that!" Lily exclaimed, " Why again are we blowing all of our money on a fancy dinner and outfits for it?"

James twirled her around and pretended to dance.

" Because its more fun to take a sexy dress off of you." He replied mischievously, earning him a halfhearted slap on the arm.

" Alright, don't tell me…" Lily pouted and pulled away playfully, only to be pulled back by James for another kiss.

" But seriously…don't that that jerk Rugel get to you." James advised, holding her head in-between his hands, " He's just angry because you're the first Muggle female to get into his program and he thinks that Dumbledore was playing favorites to get you in." Seeing Lily anger at this statement James swiftly gave her a peck before finishing, " But he's completely wrong so just show him by being the best Auror to pass through those doors and force him to give you the Golden Wand because you're hands down the _best _trainee, past or present."

Lily sighed and rested her head on James' chest.

" He won't get to me." She said, looking at him again, fire returning to her eyes, " Trust me."

James' smiled that heart attack causing smile again, " That's my Lily… I love you."

" I love you too." She murmured.

" GET YOUR BLOODY LOVESICK ARSES IN HERE!" Dacia and Sirius yelled from the two changing rooms.

Lily and James smirked at their friends.

She reached up, kissed James one last time and twirled away calling, " Get your hair cut!" Before hurrying to shower before her Magical Healing class.

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" Operation Look So Hot The Boys Drool is almost finished!" Alice chirped happily, completing Lily's ringlet hair with a charm to hold it for the whole night.

Dacia groaned from the bathroom, " I swear Alice, if you call it that one more time…"

" You will do nothing because you are not allowed to fight in that dress." Lily stated simply, ending the halfhearted argument.

" Finished!" Alice called out, placing one last charm on Lily's hair.

"Thank god!" Dacia and Lily moaned in unison. They loved their friend dearly, however she was frightening when it came time to get dressed up.

" Can we look yet?" Lily begged, using her best puppy dog eyes.

" Oh Merlin you even do the puppy dog face like James…" Dacia complained, getting up from her chair. Alice nodded in agreement and then quickly ushered everyone towards her mirror, which took up one third of a wall and ran from the floor to the roof. She had the mirror charmed so that it looked like the rest of her wall when it wasn't in use.

" I really want to see what my dress looks like!" Lily exclaimed, trying to hurry Alice as she made last minute adjustments and started to remove the charms that had prevented the two girls from seeing their outfits.

" But Lils…this is how I have my fun!" Alice pouted, " You two are so much fun to buy stuff for!"

" I'm not some damn doll." Dacia muttered venomously, tugging at the outfit she couldn't see.

" Oh hush you two." Alice reprimanded before dimming the lights and removing the spell and announced.

" Introducing the new, and may I say _fabulous _Dacia Samad!"

"Alice…play times over." Dacia called out and lit the room again, letting the three girls see themselves.

Lily gasped; astonished at the dresses Alice had found them.

Alice herself was dressed in a strapless, full length pale blue number with a bottom reminding Lily of Belle's dress from her favorite childhood fairytale, Beauty and the Beast. At the top it was gathered at a beautiful white gem. Her hair was pulled back into a sleek bun with her fringe framing her lovely pale skin and simple yet elegant features.

Dacia was dressed to kill in a backless purple dress with an extremely high slit going up her leg. On anyone else it would have looked like a hooker dress, but on Dacia it just looked like a dress that would give any man a heart attack Lily noted while smiling. Alice had straightened her hair so that it caressed her back in an eye-catching, hit the waiter because you're distracted way.

Lily was shocked when she looked at the reflection, she would have thought it was a stranger if she wasn't wearing her grandmother's pearls.

" Lily…you are my magnificent creation." Alice sighed. Dacia nodded, still squinting at the mirror and moving her arms around, trying to decide if her reflection was real.

Lily blushed, which completed her red ensemble.

Alice had defied the rules of fashion once again and proved that red heads could in fact _wear _red. Her fiery dress was simple with a plunging V-neck and a slit only half as long as Dacia's…but that still made it half way up her leg.

Lily's hair had been transformed to an entire head of perfect ringlets; wild enough to keep James distracted the whole night.

Right on cue a whistle came from the doorway and Lily spun to see her unusually dressed up date leaning against the door and staring at her with eyes that usually led to a removal of clothes instead of a polite dinner.

" Lily…you look-" James trailed off, unable to find an adjective good enough to describe her.

Lily blushed and smoothed out her dress, pleased that he liked the dress. This was the first date they had been able to have since they moved in together.

She loved seeing him first thing in the morning, especially now that they were so busy with their training that this was almost the only time they saw each other.

_So much training because Voldemort is getting stronger…_Lily thought, worry dancing across her brow.

" Hey…" James crossed the room and pulled her close, " You promised no worrying tonight remember?" He asked quietly, searching her face.

Lily smiled broadly and banished all thoughts other then the face in front of her.

" No worrying." Lily promised as James dipped her for a breath-taking kiss.

"Daaamn." A voice said from the door along with sounds of other males shifting around, trying to get a view of the beautiful specimens in the room.

Lily laughed at the stunned look on Sirius' face and Remus and Frank popping out from behind.

Frank crossed the room and pulled Alice into a kiss with a level of affection they rarely showed publicly.

" I knew there was a reason I married you right after Hogwarts…" Frank said, smiling broadly as Alice smacked his arm.

" You married me because no one else would take you." She teased.

" Why aren't any of you single…" Sirius whined, still leaning against the door jam as Remus went around him and into the room, " Hey, Dacia…how you doin'?" He said, attempting the classic Black hair flip, but hit his head on the door in the process.

While Sirius nursed his head and ego in the corner, the rest of the group laughed and Remus made his way towards Dacia.

" If fact Sirius…I don't appreciate you hitting on my girlfriend." Remus replied flippantly to the shock of the group.

Laughing at everyone's stunned reaction, Dacia pulled Remus towards her with a theatrical, " Come here lover boy." And kissed him soundly on the lips.

James came out of his coma enough to make wolf calls with Frank while Lily and Alice sighed and Sirius starred on like a goldfish that just realized he wasn't in water.

" Bu-bu…" He spluttered, looking from Dacia to Remus and then around the room.

" We've been dating for about a month and a half." Remus clarified for the crowd.

Dacia added, " We would have told you…but we weren't sure if was going to be just a fling or anything serious."

" Awesome! I get in on a threesome!" Sirius called out, skipping over to the couple, " So when were you going to define this as ' Sirius'?"

" Sod off Black." Dacia said with a smile, not able to put any anger behind it.

James shook his head in a knowing way. He and Lily had made bets last week on when they would admit their 'hidden' relationship.

" Alright lovebirds." James teased, bestowing on them the title for the newest couple, " Let's move this to the restaurant…they'll give away our table if we don't show up soon."

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"…And _that _is how James ended up kissing the Giant Squid thinking it was Lily." Sirius finished smugly, leaving the table in stitches and James wanted to punch Sirius and make him _get _stitches.

Lily was laughing so hard she ran out of air and leaning heavily on James' arm, not that he minded.

_Tonight is so perfect. _She thought contently, looking around the table at her closest friends. _But I don't know how James came up with this idea. He's never one for spending money randomly…_

Suddenly suspicious, and despite the amount of wine her had consumed, Lily was sober enough to wonder about James' master plan.

" James Potter…" She began warily, " This isn't a random event, what's going on?"

" Nothing." James lied unconvincingly, his casualness being poorly acted and fooling no one, " I just thought we all deserved a break."

" Do you take me for a dunce?" Lily teased, poking his shirt.

" Hey, watch the linens!" He replied, turning on his most potent puppy eyes, " You don't believe me?"

Remus snorted into his drink, earning a glare from James.

" Oh come on Prongs…you're the worst actor I've ever seen!" He exclaimed.

"Fine." James huffed like a five year old who had been forced to release his 'pet' frog.

Turning back to Lily, James had acquired a serious look in his eyes that surprised and startled Lily.

She gasped as he lowered himself from his chair onto the ground, one knee of the floor and one hand reaching into his coat pocket.

" Lily…" James began, reaching for her hand to hold. Lily quickly allowed him, wanting to make sure he was really there and this wasn't a dream.

" I've loved since before I knew you. As corny as that sounds…I believe I have the right to say it seeing as the first words I said to you were the ones I will finish with." Lily teared up, remembering their first train ride to Hogwarts when a raven-haired boy had spotted her across the crowd, ran towards her and proposed. Naturally she had stared at him like an insane person and sprinted the other way.

" You have put up with my stalking you for five years, being friends with you for another, and allowing me to love you for the past seven months." James stared more deeply into her eyes, searching her soul in the way only he could.

" You have been the light in my storm for the last seven years… the beautiful, fiery, _indescribable and unchangeable_ beacon that I have followed, knowing that I do not deserve the stand in that light, only hoping that I could be so fortunate." Lily was ready to burst into tears from joy and tore herself away from James' eyes for a moment only to notice her two friends borrowing handkerchiefs and other couples looking at each other with renewed passion. The passion she felt for the brunet she was looking at once again.

" I've been given the chance to bask in that light and now I can't get enough…so I am asking you-" James paused a moment, becoming choked up because of the amount of emotion he put into his speech, " Please."

" Lily Evans, will you live with me until we are old and gray? Will you let me love you until eternity? Will you marry me?"

Lily could have burst into tears at James' simple, yet profoundly soul-altering last words.

" Yes!" She choked out, the tears beginning to roll out of her eyes as James' slipped the most beautiful ring she had ever seen onto her finger. It was a gold ring that twisted around in a wave shape and met at a large, magnificent emerald, set off by a triangle of three small diamonds on either side.

Lily couldn't imagine a night more perfect.

By now the whole restaurant was clapping, some on their feet because they were so deeply moved by James' heartfelt speech. But Lily was forced to stay in her chair for fear that she would fall.

" Kiss!" Sirius called out, egging on the crowd.

Lily and James didn't need to be told twice as their lips met in a passionately innocent and blissful kiss. The air around them was tangibly peaceful and full of love, and their happiness had affected the entire restaurants as waiters chatted amiably with customers and the chefs were audibly laughing in the kitchen.

As the room settled back down into a dull roar of chattering conversation, the seven friends began to congratulate the new couple.

" Still can't believe you tricked her into liking you mate!" Sirius said, slapping James on the back as James pulled Lily's chair as close as she could be without sitting in his lap.

" Oh hush!" Alice shushed happily, " You too are the perfect couple…you deserve each other!"

Dacia was busy sobbing into Remus' collar while he stroked her hair amusedly; none of them had pegged her for the emotional type considering her karate abilities.

" Excuse me?" Their waiter interrupted, " A few of the tables have offered to pay for your dinner if you will allow it… and desert is on the house, we love to see a happy couple."

Lily blushed furiously while James tried to protest over Sirius' immediate exclaim of, " OKAY! I'll have the chocolate cake please and thank the other tables for us!"

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Two hours, a box of tissues, and hundreds of congratulations later, the group spilled out onto the street, drunk off of happiness and too excited about the future to want to Apparate home.

As they meandered down the street, which was surprisingly empty, James swept Lily off her feet and began to spontaneously sprit down the street.

Shrieking and laughing, Lily clutched her _fiancé's _collar and tried not to fall.

When he set her down a hundred yards from their friends, who were drunk off of alcohol as well as happiness and couldn't run without falling, James pulled Lily close and kissed her again before whispering.

" I love you Mrs. Lily Potter." His eyes burning with happiness.

" I love you too, Mr. James _Evans_." James laughed and Lily could have listened to that sound forever, it was the sound of angels in her ears.

A faint popping noise disrupted their happy moment as the couple became tense, their Auror training kicking in.

" It's nothing…" James whispered quietly, trying to convince both of them that nothing outside the world of the two of them could interrupt this night. But Lily couldn't go back to that world just yet, and quickly pulled James' legs out from under him and fell on top, reacting to a whisper and an almost silent 'whoosh'.

Five feet to the right a car blew up from the curse aimed at the couple and everyone knew there would be a battle.

A bit arbitrarily given the giant flare next to them, Lily and James whipped out their wands, sending a green sparks into the night alerting their position to the other members of their group.

Lily was practically blind in the night, unable to see Dacia, Remus, Sirius or even their attackers, but could only hear the beginnings of a fight back towards the restaurant.

Quickly, Lily and James scrambled to their feet, and faced the darkness around them back to back, both cursing the fact that they were far away from their friends.

" Fools!" A shrill voice cried out, " Take them out quickly and _quietly _as the Dark Lord demanded!"

_You're the foolish one_. Lily thought wryly as seven Stunners were sent towards her.

" _Reducto_! " James cried as he blocked a spell and then countered his masked opponent. Spells were being shot from all sides and Lily guessed there were at least thirteen attackers.

Keeping her back to James, Lily began sending out curses herself, finding it more and more aggravating that these cowards were hiding in the darkness.

" Show your selves!" She shrieked, blocking a curse. But all she heard was maniacal laughter as a highly recognizable scream rang out in pain.

" Dacia." Lily and James both muttered in unison.

Still dodging an unknown opponent, James quickly said, " On the count of three we'll run to that car, hopefully we can see the others from there…" Lily nodded and counted down.

" GO!" They broke formation and sprinted for their target.

" Bloody wankers." Lily cursed, hearing another curse sent her way. She quickly tried to dodge sideways, hiding behind a car three before the proposed one, but she wasn't quick enough and gasped as her leg started to bleed profusely.

" Damn cutting spells." Lily muttered, trying to remember the counter curse as her head began to throb from the loss of blood.

She couldn't see James over the edge of the car she was leaning against…but then again she couldn't see much of anything over the increasing blackness.

" _Cucire guarire_!" Lily gasped out, fighting to stay conscious and fighting to send these Death Eaters back to their _master._

" Found one!" A cold voice called out, inches away from Lily's face.

" How do you feel about dying girl? Bet you wished you hadn't joined the 'supreme' Auror training group now?" The voice snarled. Lily knew she had to keep them talking, otherwise she would be dead.

" That's why you're doing this? Because you're jealous that we've gotten into the academy?" Lily exclaimed, trying to sound like she actually cared about these idiots rational.

" I suppose they really did pick fools for this years group…" Her attacker sneered. Lily's vision was starting to clear and she could see that a man in a black coat was squatting to her right, luckily for her that was where her wand had fallen. Slowly, Lily tightened she grip around her wand as the man finished his self-acclaiming speech, he seemed so familiar…

" You're the supposed top picks to become Aurors…you really think the Dark Lord would allow you to survive the program? Without you in the way its much easier for him to take over as he should." The man leeringly stroked her cheek, thinking she was still out of commission enough that he could toy with her, " But maybe the Dark Lord will allow me to bring you back for some fun before…" But he never got to finish his threat as Lily blasted him twenty yards back with an overzealous silent stunner. During his flight, his hood had been thrown back.

_Snape…_Lily thought, trying to pull herself off the ground and towards the slimy git. But one of his helpers got to him first, and grabbed his arm before Apparating away with an aggravating 'crack'.

Staggering to her feet, Lily surveyed the area and was surprised to find it empty of everyone save for her friends, who were all gathered around a figure…

"James!" Lily cried out, praying that it wasn't him on the ground.

" LILY!" She heard a frightened reply, turning around to find her love rushing towards her.

" Oh thank god!" He breathed, pulling her as close as humanly possible.

" Who's over there?" Lily asked, her voice quavering as she leaned heavily on James, trying not to put pressure her injured leg.

" It's Dacia." He replied grimly, leading the pair over to the disheveled group.

The entire group all had varying levels of injuries, their first battle scars. Sirius looked the most beat up, a cut on his forehead causing his entire face to be stained with blood, but he was acting all right so Lily ignored him. Next to him, Alice was feverishly trying to revive Frank who appeared to be unconscious.

But the most frightening sight for Lily was Dacia, bleeding profusely and gasping for air while Remus tried to calm her and not move his clearly broken arm.

Flopping down next to her friend, Lily closed her eyes and sank into her mind as the medical course had taught her. Moving her hands a few inches over Dacia's body, she muttered various spells hoping that some would help to stop the bleeding.

" Why us?" She heard James mutter to Remus a few minutes later.

"Because of the Auror School." She replied in a voice not her own, trying not to choke on her tears, " Because we're in the highest group."

Falling back, Lily was quickly caught and pulled to James' chest.

" There's- nothing else I … can do." She murmured, trying to stay awake over the healing induce fatigue.

"Shhh…" James murmured soothingly, " You did amazing, she'll be fine." Lily clutched his shirt collar, fighting to stay with him.

" But… this isn't the end- there will be more attac-."

" Don't talk about that now…" James implored, kissing her brow, " Just sleep, dream of our wedding, Dacia and Alice as your brides maids…and I think Sirius and Remus will have to battle it out for best man."

Despite the situation, Lily smiled and found herself relaxing into James' strong arms.

" This isn't the end…you're right. It's the beginning of our future. A future we will have to _fight _for. But won't that make the good times to come so much more worthwhile?" Barely awake, Lily nodded, and lifted her head for a final kiss from her soul mate before slipping into sleep as James stroked her hair hummed her a lullaby.

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**Whoa that was long! Sorry, really didn't think it would be so long but I really wanted all of that in this installment.**

**Please review! I love hearing your opinions and it will help me write something better next time!**

**Also I have posted pictures of the three dresses and the engagement ring if you want to see what I was trying to describe!**


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